Realizing that NPCs are not beholden to the same rules of character construction that PCs are (IE, make up whatever looks good), I can probably guess at the answer - but when giving an NPC talents, do you bother with giving them everything in the talent tree necessary to unlock it?

Say, for example, you're building a Nemesis gunman and want to give him both levels of Frenzied Attack from the Marauder tree. To get to the second one, do you guys usually add Feral Strength, Heroic Fortitude, and Toughened first - or do you just say screw it and just throw both Frenzied Attacks on him, prerequisites be damned!

It all depends. I might do it if I think I'll be likely to use (and remember to use) those talents, but I don't really have to. The more significant the NPC and the more likely they are to be a recurring character factor more heavily in how I build them than the connecting lines of the talent trees do.

Yeah, I tend to build them like HappyDaze. If I think it fits the NPC, and will be used well, I add them in. Otherwise, not so much. Of course, a lot of them could be very useful and I often dither about them. I probably add more under-talents than you would see in a FFG rival or nemesis.

My method is very similar to HappyDaze and FangGrip. It depends on how "important" the NPC is, but for most of them I tend to not look at the prereq Talents much and just give them what is directly related to what I want them to do or how I want them to perform.

Okay, sounds like for a one-off (I don't expect this Dragon to survive past this game) I'm okay with just throwing whatever fits the build at him. Thanks guys - just needed validation on the direction I was leaning anyway.

The one thing I do try to do is to keep from giving too many ranks in ranked talents. If your NPC has more ranks than any reasonable PC could hope to have (like Point Blank 6 or Durable 5) then I know I've probably gone too far. In general, most of my NPCs with ranked talents will have 3 ranks or less in them.

I also avoid giving certain talents to NPCs unless I deliberately want them to be 'disruptive' to the game. Giving an Assassin Droid the talent Deadly Accuracy with Ranged (Heavy) might make perfect sense, but it's going to really swing the damage output significantly. Likewise, any opponent that is using a Vicious weapon and stacks multiple ranks of Lethal Blows on top of it is going to be a game changer.

The one thing I do try to do is to keep from giving too many ranks in ranked talents. If your NPC has more ranks than any reasonable PC could hope to have (like Point Blank 6 or Durable 5) then I know I've probably gone too far. In general, most of my NPCs with ranked talents will have 3 ranks or less in them.

I also avoid giving certain talents to NPCs unless I deliberately want them to be 'disruptive' to the game. Giving an Assassin Droid the talent Deadly Accuracy with Ranged (Heavy) might make perfect sense, but it's going to really swing the damage output significantly. Likewise, any opponent that is using a Vicious weapon and stacks multiple ranks of Lethal Blows on top of it is going to be a game changer.

To go slightly off topic. If you wanted to make your PCs sweat a little in the Critical Injury department. How many additions to the critical injury roll would you say is a good balance of "nasty" without being "OMG the GM is trying to kill us"?

I never go for the TPK, but sometimes I want to throw an encounter at them that applies pressure.

I've seen NPCs and creatures with Lethal Blows 2. I think one of the creatures with it had a natural weapon with Vicious 2. That's already pretty nasty, so I'd hesitate to go much beyond that.

I've seen NPCs and creatures with Lethal Blows 2. I think one of the creatures with it had a natural weapon with Vicious 2. That's already pretty nasty, so I'd hesitate to go much beyond that.

The space sharks from Suns of Fortune has Vicious 4 iirc.

Edit - And yes, I want to put frickin lasers on their heads.

I've seen NPCs and creatures with Lethal Blows 2. I think one of the creatures with it had a natural weapon with Vicious 2. That's already pretty nasty, so I'd hesitate to go much beyond that.

The space sharks from Suns of Fortune has Vicious 4 iirc.

That amounts to about the same thing. With +40 on Critical Hit rolls, the chances of permanent injury/maiming and instant death from a single hit start to show up. Compared to most blaster fights, that's a game changer.

wow, i was going to respond with pretty much what everyone said already!

as to "making PCs sweat a little," i'm a big fan of throwing the encounter for a loop now and then, taking things from bad to worse. it happens all the time in movies - shootout in the detention area on death star results in falling into the garbage... only to find that there is something living in it AND the walls are closing in. I like to try to think in terms of situation and "challenges" they need to solve through RP and creativity, rather than simply making the encounter more challenging just through increasing the numbers etc.

similarly, i can sometimes keep characters on edge and "overthinking" by simply adding suspense and tension and then not adding anything malicious at all. like having them in some dark, deserted ruins, feeling like they're being watched... but then nothing is really there. mwahaha - it keeps them on their toes.

similarly, i can sometimes keep characters on edge and "overthinking" by simply adding suspense and tension and then not adding anything malicious at all. like having them in some dark, deserted ruins, feeling like they're being watched... but then nothing is really there. mwahaha - it keeps them on their toes.

I like this a little too much.

Journeyman Bounty Hunter has vicious 5 disruptor rifle w/Lethal blows 1? If a GM ever needed a reset button of an NPC...